SMB: The dark jester
by MsFantasy3
Summary: Someone threatens to poison the entire village, if the mario bros don't get THE EYE OF DESPAIR. But who would do something like that or better yet why? What is the eye of despair? What will our heroic duo do? Well,stop asking questions and start reading.
1. the blackmail letter

**Super Mario Brothers: The dark jester**

by MsFantasy

It was a dark and stormy nicht in the muschroom kingdom. on the edge of toad village, was a lonely little house. It was the house of the mario brothers, the greatest heroes of the mushroom kingdom.  
Mario and Luigi where watching tv, when there was a sudden knock on the front door.  
The brothers looked at each other confused. "I'll go see who it is," Mario said. He walked to the front door and opened it.  
their unexpected visiter was none other than Toad.

"Toad, what are you doing here so late in the evening?"; Mario asked. Toad looked at Luigi and Mario. "Isn't it obvious? Princess Peach wants to see you";he replied. Mario was surprised , but he nodded, and went to fetch his umbrella.  
"Can I come?"; Luigi asked hesitantly. Toad thought about it. "Of course you can come"; He said. Mario just came back. He smiled at Luigi and gave him his umbrella. Toad and the Mario brothers ran as fast as they could through toad village to the castle of Princess peach. Once they got there, they were soaked by the rain because their umbrellas broke by the strong winds.

"I wonder why the princess wants to see us"; Mario said to himself. Luigi had heard what Mario said, and began to chuckle.  
Mario looked at Luigi with a venomous smile. "What's so funny?" He asked his brother. Luigi showed a tear of laughter. "You know, maybe the princess just wants to see you and give you a kiss"; Luigi answered. Mario looked shocked and started to blush. Luigi had to laugh even harder because of that. Mario gave his brother a teasing smile and a playful thump on his left shoulder.  
"Come on you two, the princess is waiting for us," said Toad who had to restrain to not start laughing.

Mario and Toad walked in the throne room. Luigi was just about to follow, when there was suddenly a bright flash of lightning outside. Because of this, Luigi was frozen of terror. It was silent for a while when he heard the tinkle of little bels. He looked around but couldn't see anything that would make that sound. Mario looked behind him and saw that his brother for some reason looked terrified.  
"Weege, you coming or what?"; he asked with a worried look on his face. Luigi was surprised by Mario and jumped up with his usual whaaaa scream. Mario rolled his eyes and walked over to Luigi. He took Luigi's hand and together they walked into the trone room where princess peach was waiting for them.

Princess peach smiled at them. "Good evening Mario and Luigi"; she said with her sweet voice. The brothers bowed down for the princess and got up again."you wanted to see us?"; Mario asked. Peach saw that both brothers looked curiously at her. Her smile faded and she looked worried. she Began to say;"you see, this evening there was a loud noise at the front gate. A guard went to check it out, but there was nobody. The guard did find this letter". Peach gave the letter to Mario. He began to read out loud.

 _ **To the peachy lady,**_

 **i'm so sorry to bother you in these peaceful times, but i'm afraid that this humble man needs your help.**  
 **Or wrether the help of the men with a carnival of hair on their lip.**  
 **you know, the two lapdogs you call heroes.**  
 **I would really appreciate it if they would fetch me THE EYE OF DESPAIR.**  
 **If they would be so gruff to not help little old me,i will show my gratitude by giving your loyal subjects a venomous gift.**  
 **After all, who doesn't like to get gifts.**

 _ **Ciao for now!**_

"There is no name at the end of the letter, just a picture of a theatrical mask. one half white, one black half "; Mario explained. Luigi didn't know why, but he feels very uncomfortable. Mario saw this. He layed his hand on luigi's shoulder and looked at peach. "What is the eye of despair, exactly?"; Mario asked the Princess."It's not a real eye, if that's what you think. There is a legend of a demon with the power to destroy the world. One day a hero emerged who was brave enough to take on the monster. But the hero knew that he needed some help to get rid of the demon. So he went to see a magician. The magician gave the hero a magical medallion. When the hero went to face the demon, he used the medallion to suck up al the power of the monster. He was then able to destroy the demon with his sword. The hero called the locket the eye of despair. To make sure the eye would not enter the wrong hands, he built a temple with traps. The eye should still be there"; Peach explained.

"How do you know al this princess?"; Mario asked. Peach gave mario a little smile. "I'm a princess, i do my homework"; she replied.  
"anyhow, i think this is just a very bad joke of someone. For Example how can you poison the entire village. There is not even a name at the end of the letter"; Mario explained. Princess Peach, Luigi and Toad still didn't look convinced. "Okay, let's say that the letter is genuine. We're talking about a strong and dangerous magical object. Are you going to give it to someone you don't even know? That person clearly wants me and Luigi to go, but he also knows that if he poisoned anyone, we're not going to get him the eye"; Mario clarified.

Princess Peach was a little more at ease, after what Mario has said. Eventually she agreed with Mario. Princess peach explained how Princess Daisy, tomorrow would come visiting from sarasaland. Once Luigi heard the name Daisy, he blushed. He hoped that his brother had not seen it, but Mario's giggling said enough. "You know what, we will hold a picnic with our friends tomorrow. I'm pretty sure Daisy would like that, and then I can forget for a while what happened here tonight"; princess Peach suggested.  
the brothers thought it was a great idea and agreed.

Mario and Luigi were on their way home. They had said nothing the whole way. Mario because he was tired, after all it was already quite late and Luigi because he was worrying. He did not know why, but he felt quite uncomfortable. When they arrived home they went straight to their room and crawled into their pajamas. Mario noticed that Luigi was still not at ease, so he went to his younger brother and gave him a hug. He looked at Luigi, and said; "Don't worry Weege, everything is okay."  
Luigi gave Mario a faint smile and nodded. The brothers wished each other good night and crawl into their bed.

Mario was soon asleep, but Luigi was awake. He sat up and looked through the window that was right next to his bed.  
He looked at the moon and stars, and let out a sigh. Then he looked at Mario on the other side of the room, and began to smile. He laid himself down and closed his eyes. After 10 minutes, both brothers were sleeping, ready for the new day to come.  
Little did they know, that day would turn into a real nightmare.  
 **  
******** **to be continued ********

AU:  
1) Please don't kill me, if you don't like the story. After all, this is my first attempt to write a story and my english is not that good. My mother language is Dutch and I didn't get English at school. You can criticize me so I can improve, but please keep it polite and nice.

2) You'll have noticed that Mario says Weege a few times instead of Luigi. That's because Weege is a nickname of Luigi.

3) I really hope you enjoyed my story so far, i've put a lot of work and time into this.


	2. The picnic

Super Mario Bros: The dark jester: Chapter 2

Mario slowly opened his eyes, it was already light outside. He looked at the clock that hung above the door.  
"It's seven o'clock in the morning.", he said in a soft tone. Mario was still half asleep.  
He looked at Luigi's bed, only to discover that Luigi was not there. Mario crawled out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash and dress himself. He then went to the kitchen. Luigi was there trying to make breakfast.  
"Good morning big bro"; Luigi said in an almost whispering tone. Mario studied his little brother. Luigi looked pretty pale and had bags under his eyes.

"Weege, have you actually slept last night?"; asked Mario. Mario began to worry. Luigi hardly dared to look at his older brother.  
" Yes, for an hour or three, I think"; he murmured. Mario couldn't believe his ears. He walked over to Luigi and put his hand on his brother's shoulder.  
Mario began to suggest, "Okay, here's the plan, the picnic only starts this afternoon. That gives you time to sleep for a few hours. I will wake you up on time so you can freshen up a little. Princess Daisy will be hysterical if she sees you like this."  
Without contradicting Luigi went back to his bed. He was so exhausted that it didn't take long for him to fall asleep.  
"Honestly Luigi, what is bothering you so much?", Mario muttered to himself.

He ate the breakfast, Luigi had made for him and then went to check the mail. When Mario came back inside, the phone went. Mario answerd the phone. It was Princess Peach. She had asked Mario, if she could invite Bowser. After all, Bowser was pretty quiet lately. He had even participated, the last time they raced and had a party. Princess Peach was trying, to involve Bowser as much as possible, to keep him happy and keep the peace. Mario did not have any problems with it. He himself was happy that he finally had a break from always having to fight bowser. So Mario agreed with Peach's proposal. Then he went to the couch and began to read his newspaper.

It was half past ten when Mario had finished his newspaper. He went to the bedroom to wake Luigi. Just when he wanted to open the door, he heard Luigi shout. He opened the door and went to Luigi's bed. Luigi was tossing and turning and was totally sweaty.  
" Luigi? Luigi wake up, it's just a nightmare"; Mario said in a distressed tone. Luigi opened his eyes and shot in a sitting position while he was gasping for air.  
"Are you alright?"; asked Mario. Luigi nodded and went to the bathroom to get ready. After an hour both brothers were ready and were on their way to the castle of Princess Peach.

Everyone was waiting for them. Peach had invited Princess Daisy, Bowser, Toad, Toadette, Yoshi and even Professor E. Gadd. The Mario brothers greeted everyone. next to the castle was a little open field that was surrounded by forest, where they will have the picnic. When they arrived at their destination, they marveled at how beautiful the field was. Everywhere grew colorful flowers and the trees that surrounded the field, made a fresh shade on a hot day. they were looking for a place in the shade under a tree and put everything ready for the picnic. Then they began to eat together and have fun. Everyone was enjoying themselves, even Luigi was relaxed for the moment. That was a relief for Mario.

After dinner they just hung around a bit. Yoshi, Toad and Toadette were playing cards, Bowser, Mario and the professor were having a conversation, The princesses were picking flowers and Luigi lay on his back in the middle of the field. He lay down with his eyes closed but he was not asleep, even though he was tired.  
the princesses went to sit with Mario, Bowser and the professor.  
"Mario, is there something wrong with Luigi?"; asked Princess Peach. Everyone looked at Luigi, and then to Mario.  
Professor E. Gadd continued;" He's not really himself today."  
Mario sighed and said;"He just barely slept last night, he was upset when we went to visit princess peach yesterday."

"I'll go talk to him"; Mario said. He was on his way to Luigi, when there was suddenly screaming behind him. He and Luigi looked at what happened. All their friends were in a big orange barrier.  
"what the ... "; Luigi exclaimed. Both Mario brothers ran to their friends. They began to beat with all their might on the barrier, but it had no effect.  
"Look, behind you!"; yelled peach. The Mario bro's looked behind them. On the other side of the field stood a man with a cloak. He was laughing and applauding. The mysterious person said, "so touching, I almost have to cry... almost."

"Who are you? Why are you doing this? 'Exclaimed Mario to the mysterious person.

" Me? I am the master of dimensions... Pleaser of crowds... I am... Dimentio!"; he shouted as he threw away his cloak.

Dimentio's physical appearance resembles that of a magical jester. He primarily wears a cap and cape with purple and light-yellow stripes, with the purple striped portions of the cap containing jingle bells on each end. He wears black pants and pointy-ended shoes. His face is stylized after a theatrical mask, only split in half so that the right side is white and the left side is black. The eyes likewise are differently colored: black for the right eye, and yellow for the left. His mouth is colored red and usually set in a grin.

Mario did not know what to think of the jester. But when he looked at Luigi to see what he thought of Dimentio, he was shocked. His little brother looked terrified. Even Luigi did not know why he was so afraid of the Jester, after all, they had never met before. Yet there was a place in Luigi's heart, that insisted that they've met already. Luigi decided maybe they had met in another life, which aggravated his fear. He did not know what layed ahead. But one thing was certain. Whatever would happen next, it will not be good. 

****** **To be continued** ******


	3. Mario's worst nightmare

"Are you the one who wrote the letter to Princess Peach?"; asked Mario.

Dimentio had an evil smirk on his face and answered; "What gave me away, it was the picture of the mask wasn't it?"

Mario looked annoyed at him.

Finally he gave a little grin and said; "No, your ego did".

Dimentio was not offended by this, he even started to say in a mocking tone; "Auwch, that was not really friendly."

Mario ignored him and went on; "Why are you here, anyway?"

For the first time dimentio was no longer smiling. He replied, "Well, that's a funny story. You know, I wanted to see the reaction of the princess, when she would read the letter. That's why I decided to make myself invisible and stay in the castle.  
Mr. scaredy cat over there almost found me". Dimentio pointed to Luigi.  
He continued, "Fortunately you came to get him, I followed you into the throne room, where I heard you read the letter. Only to discover that you regarded it as a silly joke. It's all your fault, Mario. I'm afraid I'll need to teach you a lesson.

Out of nowhere, Luigi started to scream; "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Mario was horrified by Luigi's scream. Dimentio looked first at Mario and then watched from the corner of his eyes to Luigi. His wicked smile appeared back on his face. Mario had seen this, it scared him and everyone knows that it's not easy to scare Mario.

Mario looked at Luigi and then Dimentio, he began to scream; "What are you going to ..."

Before Mario could finish his sentence, Dimentio had snapped his fingers. Both behind Mario and Luigi appeared two Dimentio clones, which were holding the brothers by their arms. Both brothers tried to break free, without any success. The two Dimentio clones who clung to Mario, dragged him to the orange barrier where Princess Peach and Daisy, Toad and Toadette, Professor E. Gadd, Bowser and Yoshi were trapped. Meanwhile, Luigi tried to break free from his two Dimentio clones, but nothing worked.

Once Mario was in, he started to ram his fists against the barrier and cried; "Luigi!"

"Mario!"; Luigi cried as he was trying to go to his big brother. He almost dragged the two clones with him, but he just wasn't strong enough. Tears rolled over Luigi's face, he was scared and didn't know what to do. Even Mario started to get tears in his eyes when he saw his baby brother.

" **Now this would make me cry!** "; the jester said while he was laughing. He was laughing so hard that he had actually tears.

" Wow, and i thought that i was bad"; muttered Bowser.

The two clones dragged Luigi right in front of the barrier where everyone could see him. Then Dimentio appeared right next to him, he had a syringe and a little bottle with a black fluid in his hands. Everyone was shocked, they knew what he was planning to do with Luigi.

Mario was still ramming his fists against the barrier while he was practicly begging;" Please no, don't do it!"

Dimentio started to lick his mouth. "I can get used to this"; he said with his creepy smile. He put the needle of the syringe in the little bottle and sucked up it's Content.  
He looked straight at Mario and continued;"But i still need to punish you". He teleported right in front of Luigi.

Luigi was crying and shaking of fear. He started to beg;" P-please n-n-no".

But it was to late. Dimentio had rammed the syringe in Luigi's chest, not even bothering to remove his clothing first. the poison was injected into Luigi. Everything that followed apeared to be in slowmotion in the eyes of the green clad plumber. He heard his own heartbeat, it was unstable. His hearing began to mute. He could hear some people yelling, but couldn't hear what though. Luigi could barely make out Mario's voice. Luigi's vision began to blurr. He had it warm, to warm. His boddy felt really hot, he was boiling. However the worst was what followed, it started where Dimentio had put the syringe. He suddenly had intense pain in that spot.

Luigi fell to his knees and screamed of the pain. He could barely breathe and started to cough up blood.

Everyone cried out; "Luigi!"

Finally Luigi was entirely down to the ground.

Princess Daisy shaked a little and looked very angry. " **You monster!** "; she yelled.

Dimentio ignored her and snapped his fingers again, the clones disappeared.  
He started to demand;"Oké now listen up my lapdog, if you want to save this crybaby, you will bring me the eye of despair".

Mario clenched his teeth on each other, while he said;"His name is **Luigi**!"

"Oh, pardon me"; the jester teased.  
"But if you want to save your brother, you better start working because in three days he will be dead"; he said in an almost singing tone. He continued;"We will meet again in this field".  
Dimentio made a bow.  
"Ciao for now"; he said, while he and the barrier faded away.

Mario and friends ran to Luigi, who had still difficulty breathing and was still in immense pain. Mario rolled his little brother on his back. Luigi flinched in pain.

He opened his eyes halfway as Tears ran down his face again. He started to moan;"M-Mari...o".  
Right after he said that, he coughed up a lot of blood and gasped for air.

It broke Mario's heart, to see his baby brother like this. He started to cry, as he lifted up Luigi's head and let it rest against his own chest.  
He gently rocked Luigi back and forth, as he began to whisper;"ssssshhhh, don't speak annymore. Save you're strengt. Everything is going to be okay. You're big brother is here, everyonne is here. We're going to help you".

And with that, Luigi finally lost his consciousness.

*** **To Be Continued** ***

AU:

I'm so sorry for the late update. I'm really busy looking after a job. So i'm going to warn you, i will continue and eventually finish this fanfiction. But the chapters will not be updated regularly.

At least I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the story so far.


	4. Day 1: staying strong

Everyone stood in silence around the Mario brothers. Professor E. Gadd stepped forward and put a hand on Mario's shoulder, he said, "My boy, we really need to get him to the hospital". Mario nodded.

"Yoshi, can you carry him?"; the sad plumber asked.  
Yoshi went towards the brothers and bowed his knees so it was easier for Mario to put Luigi on his back.

Yoshi stood up and began to walk while Mario walked beside him to prevent that Luigi would fall on the ground, the others followed them. When they passed Peach's castle, Mario suddenly stopped.

"Mario, stop dawdling We need to get your brother to the hospital as soon as possible."; bickered Daisy.

Mario looked angry at her and snarled;" Don't you think i know that? But if we want to save him we must get the antidote from Dimentio first and he won't give it to us unless we have The eye of despair".

Peach continued;" So if I know you well, you want a few of us to go to the royal library and look up, how and where you can find the medallion".

Mario gave her a faint smile and replied;" You know, sometimes you know me better than myself".

" Wow, wow, wait. Are you actually gonna give Dimentio what he wants?"; Bowser Questioned. Everyone looked at Bowser confused.

Daisy replied;"Of course we are. Luigi needs that antidote. We know that Dimentio is going to do evil stuff with the eye, but that is a problem we will deal with in the future. Luigi needs us now".

"Just checking"; Bowser answered. He continued;"But if Mario thinks he is going to get that medallion on his own, he's crazy. I'm gonna help".

Toad yelled;" Yeah, me to!"

Everyone was surprised by the two volenteers, especially Mario, but he didn't argue. He could use al the help he could get. Eventually he agreed. Peach, Bowser, Toad and Toadette went to the library to plan their journey while Mario, yoshi, Daisy and brought Luigi to the hospital.

Mario's group was standing at the entrance of the hospital. He took Luigi off Yoshi's back and held his younger brother in his arms. He ran with Luigi inside and yelled;"Please, someone help me, my brother needs help!"

A group of Toads came running with a stretcher. They laid Luigi on the stretcher and brought him to a room where they moved him to a hospital bed. Mario was not allowed inside but there was a large window through which he could see what the medical staff was doing to his brother. First they took off his clothes with the exception of his underwear and covered him with the sheets of the bed. Mario saw one of the doctors take blood at the exact same spot where dimentio had injected his brother. The doctor came out of the room and took the blood to a laboratorium. Back in the room they put a nasal cannula on Luigi to let him breathe a little easier. One of the nurses gave him an IV to administer fresh blood and pain killers while another nurse placed a cold compress on his forehead. Finally they connected him to a heart monitor. After they had taken care of Luigi, the rest of the medical staff came outside to continue their work while one of the doctors went to Mario.

The toad introduced himself;"Hi, i'm Dr. Latoad and i'm in charge of taking care of your brother".

First he looked at some papers he was holding and then at Mario.

"I have somme good news and bad news. The good news is, Luigi is stable, for now at least. The bad news is, the Poison was injected in his chest and because of that, his respiratory system is damaged. A colleague of mine, took a blood sample of Luigi to the lab to study it. He claims he can create a serum to watch the progress of the poison, it would be very helpful if he succeeds in creating the serum. So, do you have anny questions?"

Mario shook his head and asked;"Can i see him now?"

Dr. Latoad gave him a faint smile and answered;"Of course". He opened the door to Luigi's room and then left to go sheck on his other patients.

Mario stood in the doorway. He looked at his younger brother while he slowly walked towards him. He sat on a stool that was located right next to the bed and placed his hand on Luigi's arm. He sat like that for almost two hours. In the mean time Princess Daisy, E. Gadd and Yoshi were waiting in the waiting room, they wanted to give the brothers some space. Yet, Mario couldn't wait anymore, he wanted Luigi to wake up so he could confirm if his brother was okay.

He tried to call out for his younger brother;"Luigi?"

Luigi didn't respond. Tears were forming in Mario's eyes. He sobbed;"Weege?"

This time Luigi flinched and slowly opened his eyes. His chest still hurts, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. Luigi could feel a pressure on his right arm, as if someone was holding it. He slowly turned his head, only to see his big brother. Mario began to smile as the tears streamed down his face.

Luigi tried to speak;"B-Bro you're cry...ing"

"Don't worry about it"; Mario Laughed as he rubbed away the tears with his sleeve . He stood up and gave Luigi a big hug.

"E-Easy br...o, m...y chest h-hurts"; Luigi moaned.

"Sorry, my bad"; he replied.

At that moment the others came into the room and went to stand around the bed. Daisy gave Luigi a kiss on the nose.

She whispered in his ear;"Hey sweety". Luigi began to blush.

"You gave us quite the scare, my boy" Professor E. Gadd said.

"How are you feeling?"; Yoshi asked.

" i've b-been better"; Luigi answered.

Dr. Latoad and a nurse entered the room. He went to the bed and looked at Luigi.

"Ha, you're awake. Perfect timing"; he then looked at Mario. "You see my colleague has been able to create the serum"; he announced.

Mario looked at his confused brother and explained;"You see, this is Doctor Latoad. He and a colleague of his created a serum to see how far the poison has spread in your body".

"True, of course we can only do the test if you give us your permission. I do have to warn you, since we are dealing with an unknown poison we have no idea what the effects from the serum are"; Latoad continued.

Mario was shocked because of the warning. He wasn't sure if his brother should do the test, but to his surprise Luigi replied;"O-okay, if it he...lps".

"You sure?"; Mario asked.

Luigi nodded. The Doctor took a syringe and a test tube out of his pocket. He pulled the cork out of the tube and sucked up the serum with the syringe.

"Are you ready?"; the Doctor asked.

Luigi nodded again. Mario was holding his hand.

Latoad walked over to Luigi and placed the needle in his chest, the serum was injected. Everyone was holding there breath, but the first ten seconds nothing happend. Then Luigi flinched, the pain in his chest became worse. His heartbeat became unstable. From the spot where the serum got injected, Luigi's veins started to turn black. The pain became really intense. Luigi's grip on Mario's hand tightend as he began to scream. Tears ran down his face.

"Hang on Weege, it's almost over"; Mario tried to comfort his little brother.

The spreading of the discoloration in his veins stopped, all the veins from his shoulders till his chest had turned black.  
Luigi was breathing heavily, he was really dizzy. All of a sudden he started to cough up blood again. the nurse cleaned his face and changed the cold compress on his forehead. Eventually the veins turned back to normal and Luigi's heartbeat stabilized. He was really tired.

"Well, that was intense. At least we know it's a slow spreading poison, only his chest is infected"; the Doctor clarified.

He was writing something down when he and the nurse left the room and went their separate ways.

Luigi was very weak because of the test, he looked at his big brother.  
" M-Ma...rio ..."; he whimpered.

" Ssh, you did well. Try to sleep"; Mario said in a soothing tone. He was stroking Luigi's hair with his free hand.

Everyone watched as Luigi fell asleep. Less than five minutes later, Peach her group came into the room.

Daisy did indicate that they had to be quiet. They understood.

Peach walked over to Mario and asked;"How is he doing?"

"He's tired. They just did a test on him and they discovered dat it's a slow spreading poison. I guess that means his other body parts are safe for now"; Mario answered.

Peach gave him a sympathetic smile. She was holding a piece of paper which she gave to Mario. Mario folded the piece of paper open, it was a map. They knew, were to get The eye.

Mario looked up and announced;"Okay, we are going to go home and have a much needed sleep. we will gather here at 5am. Are there any questions?"

No one had anything to say .

"Good, now Daisy before you leave can i speak you in private?"; Mario asked.

Daisy nodded, she stayed as all the others left the room and went home. Mario looked at Luigi and then to Daisy.

"Promise me, you stay by his side while i'm gone. He's already gone through so much and it's al my fault"; Mario said to Daisy as he burst into tears.

"Hey, hey, that's not true. Dimentio poisoned Luigi, not you. And of course i will stay by his side. Everything will be fine, you'll see." Daisy claimed.

"Thanks Daisy, i needed that"; Mario confessed.

mario looked one last time at his sleeping baby brother as he and Daisy went to go home. Once he got home he took two backpacks and filled them with power ups and supplies for their journey, then he changed into his pyjama and went to bed.

*** **To Be Continued** ***


	5. Day 2: getting The eye of despair

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiing.

Mario grumbled as he turned off the alarm clock. It was 3 am. He had decided to wake up a little early, so he could study the map. He got dressed, took the map and went to the kitchen. He made himself a cup of coffee and sat at the table. He took a big swig and spat it out just as quickly again,when he had taken a look at the map. Mario couldn't believe his eyes. The temple wasn't that hard to reach . Well, it would take time to get there, but they just had to follow the pad on a giant open field and enter the even bigger ancient forest.

Mario tought about it. If the temple was that easy to reach, why didn't dimentio go get the eye himself? He couldn't find an answer. The red clad plumber looked at the clock, it was already 4 am. He sighed, took the map with the two backpacks and went to the Hospital. When he entered Luigi's room, Mario saw that Daisy, professor E. Gadd, Toad and Toadette where already there.

Mario whispered,sinds Luigi was still asleep;"Thanks for coming guys, We're just waiting for Peach,Yoshi and Bowser".

Just when he had said that, the three came inside the room.

"Aaaand we're all here"; Mario corrected himself.

He Walked over to Toad and gave him the back pack with the power ups, while he was wearing the other one with supplies.  
Mario gave his younger brother a sad look.

"Don't worry my boy, Daisy and i will stay by your brothers side"; he told Mario while he winked at him.

Mario looked at Daisy and then to , he gave them a smile and nodded. Everyone with the exception of Daisy and were about to leave the room when Luigi woke up.

"Ma...rio d-don't go"; The younger brother begged.

Mario turned around and walked over to Luigi. He stroked Luigi's hair again.

"Non ti preoccupare, ti prometto che tornerò. Tutto andrà bene."; Mario replied.

Luigi smiled and nodded. Mario took away the cold compress, gave his younger brother a kiss on the forehead and placed the compress back where it belonged. He then turned back to the others and left the room.

"What did he say to you?"; Daisy asked since only the Mario brothers could speak Italian.

"I-it's no...thing"; Luigi smiled as he fell back to sleep.

Mario, Toad and Bowser started their journey as Peach, Toadette and Yoshi waved them goodbye. Once the travelers were out of sight, Peach's group returned home. After walking for almost six hours, our hero's reached the entrance of The ancient forest. They were really tired and hungry, so they decided to take a break before entering the forest. Mario took off his backpack and pulled out a package full of sandwiches which he shared with Toad and Bowser. He also gave everyone a bottle of water.

After lunch Mario informed;"okay,once we enter the forest we stick together. The ancient forest is ginormous and it's easy to get forever lost in there. Just to be sure i have made some safety precautions".

He took a rope out off his back pack and tied it around everyone's wrist. First Bowser's, than Toad's en himself as last.

"Now we will not get separated. I have Studied the map this morning and I know exactly how to go, so I will lead the way."; Mario continued.

Bowser and Toad agreed. They cleaned up their mess and went into the forest. Mario leaded them the entire way until they reached an open space.

"No ... no ... no no no no no this can't be"; Mario cried.

Toad looked at Mario and asked;"What's wrong?"

"The temple should be right here"; Mario answered.

Bowser snatched the map out of Mario's back pack and implied;"you got us lost, didn't you?"  
He looked at the map and continued;"W-wait he's right. the temple should be here.

"Look, over there";Toad yelled as he pointed at a big stone which had writing on it.

Mario walked over to the stone and started to read;"Only those with good intentions can enter the temple".  
At least now Mario knew why Dimentio could'nt get the eye himself, his intentions were bad.  
Mario looked up at the sky and explained;"We only want The eye of depair to save my brothers life".

Out of nowhere the ground began to shake. Ten seconds later the shaking stopped and the temple was vissable, it was a giant pyramid.

Mario,Toad and Bowser looked at the temple when they suddenly heard a whispering voice in the wind saying;"You may pass".

The voice gave Mario,Toad and Bowser the chills. They took the rope off their wrists and Mario placed it back in his back pack.  
The three entered the temple. When they got inside, the torches on the walls lighted up. They were in a little room. Right in front of them, was a hallway, the walls of the hallway were covered with holes. Without any warning Toad was about to enter the hallway.

"Toad wait!";Mario yelled as he was running up to the little guy.

Just as Toad placed his food in the hallway, all kind of traps came out of the holes in the walls such as: spears, toxic gas and darts that can paralyze. Mario was able to pull toad out of there in the nick of time.

"whew, one second later and Toad would have been shish kebab"; mario stated.

Bowser continuid;"Yeah common Toad that was Obvious a trap".

Toad apologized to Bowser and thanked Mario. He asked;"So, how do we get to the other side?"

"Easy"; Bowser replied with a grin on his face.

Bowser walked over to Toad and grabbed him. The koopa king was making sure he was standing in a straight line with the hallway. He then started to spin around and after a few spins he trew Toad in the Hallway. Toad screamed as he flew all the way to the other side of the hallway.

"the fuck Bowser"; Mario yelled, when they heard an "i'm okay!"; from Toad.

"Next"; Bowser said as he walked over to Mario with an even bigger grin on his face.

"Oh no, nonononono i'm good"; Mario panicked as he walked backwards,away from Bowser.

But it was to late. Bowser had picked him up and just as Toad, Mario screamed as he flew to the other side of the hallway.

"I've always wanted to do that"; Bowser laughed.

Mario and Toad were standing in a bigger room. On their right was a stairway going up.

"How do we get Bowser over here?"; Toad asked?

Mario pointed to their left, there was a lever. He pulled the lever and they heard a loud click.

"It should be safe now!"; Mario yelled to Bowser.

Bowser nodded and carefully placed a step into the hallway. Nothing happened so he kept walking. Once he was halfway the hallway, they heard a loud click again. The Walls and ceiling came closer, the hallway was shrinking.

"Bowser run"; Mario yelled.

Bowser ran as fast as he could and made it just in time out of the hallway.

He was gasping for air, as Mario walked over to him with a grin on his fase.

Mario asked;"Do you believe in karma Bowser? I know i do".

Bowser glared at Mario as Toad was laughing.

The three went up the stairs to continue the journey. Mario and Toad were in front as Bowser was a little way behind, still recovering from the running he did. Mario and Toad reached a new Room. The room had no floor. Instead of a floor, there was a deep pit filled with water. The only way to reach the other side of the room was by swimming which was no option since there were electric eels in the water. Just as Bowser arrived, he stumbled and accidently pushed Mario as he fell down. Because of this, Mario fell in the room with the water.

Toad yelled;"Noooooooooo!"

He stopped yelling and let his mouth hang open as he couldn't believe what he saw. Bowser stood up again, and when he looked at Mario also his mouth hang open in surprise. They had expected to see the red clad plumber fall into the water and die but instead, they saw that Mario was standing on the water.

"How are you doing that?"; Toad asked in disbelief.

Mario looked around him and answered;"There's a path made of glass leading to the other side of the room. It's like a leap of fate".

"Oh good, i thought you became Jesus for a second there";Bowser replied in relief.

Mario carefully walked to the other side of the room. Bowser followed but because of his weight the glass started to break.

"Oh, nice going Bowser"; Mario moaned.

"Shut up!";Bowser yelled as he ran to Mario before the glass path broke completely.

Mario looked around the room to find a way to get Toad to their side. When he saw that their was a torch hanging above the door on Toad's side and their side, he had an idea. He took the rope from earlier and tied it around the torch on their side, then he trew the other end of the rope to Toad. Toad knew what Mario was doing and he tied the rope on the torch on his side of the room. When he had done that, he jumped up and grabbed the rope. Toad dragged himself over the rope to Mario's side and let himself fall between Mario and Bowser. When they went through the door they found the stairs to what would be the last room of the temple, also known as the top of the pyramid.

(Meanwhile, in the hospital)

Doctor Latoad and the nurse came into Luigi's room. The nurse had brought along a platter with food.

"Sweety, wake up the doctor is here"; Daisy whispered in Luigi's ear.

Luigi woke up. He looked very pale and he felt really nauseous.

"If i'm not mistaken, you haven't eaten in two days. You really need to eat something or you die of starvation instead of poison"; Doctor Latoad joked.

Now that Luigi tought about it, the doctor was right. He hadn't eaten in two days. On the day of the picnic, he had skipped breakfast to cetch up on his sleep and on the picnic itself he spent the entire time laying down on the grass and staring at the clouds. But Still, Luigi didn't feel hungry. Yet he forced himself to eat a slice of bread. He had immediately regretted it, as his stomach began to hurt. Luigi was about to throw up. The nurse had seen this and was just in time to put a metal bowl under his mouth. When Luigi was done, she took the bowl to the bathroom to empty it and came back with a wet washcloth to clean Luigi's face.

"Hmmm, i wonder. Luigi will you allow us to use the serum again?"; Doctor Latoad asked.

Luigi was afraid, he knew from the last time how mush it hurted. "I-is it rea...lly nec...essary?"; he asked?

"I'm afraid so, yes. But the good news is, we have modefied the serum. Normally , the effects of the last time should not happen again"; Latoad answered.

Luigi nodded. This time Daisy was holding his hand. Just like last time Luigi's veins turned black and just as the Doctor had said, their were no side effects. This time Luigi's veins were black from his chin to his hips.

"Just as i thought, the poison has spread. Luigi's digestive system is also infected"; Doctor Latoad explained.

"Please hurry my boy, you're brother needs that antidote"; E. Gadd whispered to himself.

(Back in the temple)

Mario, Toad and Bowser reached the next room which was the top of the Pyramid. In every corner of the room was a giant statue of a demon, while in the middle of the room there was a pedestal where The eye of despair rested. There was a big hole in the ceiling that let the light from outside shine on the pedestal. Mario walked slowly up to it.

"Those statues look like they can come to live anny second"; Toad joked as he was admiring them.

There was sweat dripping of Mario's face. He swallowed before he gently took the medallion of the pedestal. He stood still for a few seconds as if he expected a trap to go off, but nothing happened. Mario turned around and walked over to Bowser and Toad. Just when he thought it was safe, the statues indeed came to life.

"Oh come on! Toad just had to open his big mouth, didn't he!"; Mario yelled as he tried to dodge the statues that were attacking them.

"Less talking, more fighting"; Bowser replied as he was able to destroy one of the statues with his firebreath.

Toad took a piece of meat out of his backpack and threw it to Bowser, then he grabbed a superstar and threw it at Mario.

"Thanks Toad!"; Bowser and Mario yelled in unison.

Within seconds, the statues were destroyed. The group was about to leave the room, as a secret wall closed off the door.

"Now what?";Bowser asked.

Mario looked at the hole in the ceiling, than he walked over to Toad, looked in his backpack and took out a P-Wing power-up. He used the power-up, took a spare rope out of his own backpack and flew through the hole in the ceiling. Mario tied the rope around his waist and let the other end of the rope fall down the hole as his power-up elaborated. Toad climbed the rope until he was outside with Mario. Bowser couldn't climb the rope, so he tied it around his waist as Mario and Toad worked together to lift him up.

"Oh my God, lose some weight Bowser, will ya?"; Mario huffed as he pulled him up.

Once they got Bowser out, the three of them climbed down the pyramid. Once they were down on the ground, it was alreaddy dark outside. Mario looked at his watch, it was 9 pm.

"It's way to late to turn back now. I think it is best we sleep here tonight and wake up early to make our journey back."; Mario suggested.

Bowser and Toad agreed. They made a campfire, ate the rest of the sandwiches and fell asleep.

*** **To Be Continued** ***

AU:

Non ti preoccupare, ti prometto che tornerò. Tutto andrà bene./Don't worry,I promise I'll come back. Everything will be fine.


	6. Day 3: Luigi's perseverance

Mario was woken up by Bowser's snoring. He sighed as he looked at his watch, it was 4 am.

"Well, it's time to get up anyway"; the red clad plumber told himself.

He walked over to Bowser and Toad and started to wake them up. Although he was able to immediately wake Toad, It wasn't that easy with Bowser.

"Now what?"; Toad asked.

Mario took a minute or two to think about it, when a grin appeared on his face. He picked up his backpack and took a bottle of water.

Toad laughed at Mario as he stated;"You wouldn't dare".

"wanna bet?"; Mario asked as the water flowed over Bowser's face.

With a growl in his voice, Bowser yelled;"Okay, okay i'm up! sheesh, you maniacs!"

"Sorry Bowser, but we really need to go and you didn't want to wake up"; Mario explained while laughing.

Suddenly his expression changed, he looked sad. It became silent for a moment. Bowser knew Mario was worried about his younger brother.

"yeah, it's okay i guess"; Bowser huffed.

Just like yesterday, Mario tied the spare rope around their wrist so nobody would get lost in The ancient forest. The three made their way back to the hospital.

 *****  
**  
It was 6 am, Daisy sat next to Luigi's bed while she was holding his hand. E. Gadd had just woken up, he had spent the night in a chair with his lab coat as a blanket. The professor went to the bathroom to freshen up a little. When he was finished, he walked over to Daisy until he stood beside her. E. Gadd put his hand on Daisy's shoulder as they both looked at Luigi.

"He doesn't look so good"; Daisy whispered to the professor while still looking at Luigi.

"I know"; E. Gadd replied.

Despite the fact that Luigi was asleep, he looked indeed terrible. He was very pale, sweat was dripping off his face, his breathing was really heavy and once in a while you could see on his face that he was in pain. It was really hard to watch. The professor let go of Daisy's shoulder and took off his glasses as he placed his free hand on his eyes and sighed.

"Are you okay professor?"; Daisy asked with worry in her voice.

E. Gadd put his glasses back on, he answered;"I'm fine my dear, i just hope i don't lose my friend".

"We all do"; Daisy replied with a sad smile.

Luigi started to wake up. He slowly turned his head in the direction of Daisy and E. Gadd.

He tried to ask;" I...is M-mario ..."

Luigi was to weak to finish his question.

"No sweetie, Mario isn't back yet, but he will be soon."; Daisy answered.

Luigi slowly turned his head to the ceiling and closed his eyes as tears rolled down his face. Daisy and looked compassionate at Luigi and then to each other. About 5 minutes later, Princess Peach, Yoshi and Toadette entered the room. Peach placed her hands in front of her mouth and gasped when she saw Luigi.

Daisy looked at peach and asked;"Any news about Mario's group?"

Peach put her hands back down and shook her head. Daisy sighed. Everyone took a chair and sat around Luigi's bed, they sat like that for a few hours. E. Gadd couldn't watch Luigi's suffering anymore, he stood up an was about to leave the room.

"Where are you going?"; Daisy asked.

"I'm really sorry my dear but i really need some fresh air. I won't be gone for long"; E. Gadd answered.

Daisy understood and nodded, she also wanted some fresh air but she didn't want to leave Luigi's side and she made that promise with Mario. Just as E. Gadd made his way through the door he froze.

"What is it?" Toadette asked.

The professor looked at them and answered;"They're here, they're finally here".

Everyone stood up of excitement as Mario, Toad and Bowser entered the room. The Princesses, Yoshi and Toadette ran to the three adventurers.

Peach gave mario a kiss and asked;"Do you have The eye of despair?"

Mario took the eye out of his backpack. The moment he showed it to everyone, the medallion emitted a black aura and they could hear whispering voices all around them, so he put the medallion back in his backpack as soon as he could. It was quiet for a moment.

Daisy placed her hand on Mario's shoulder and announced;"I knew you could do it, all three of you".

Mario gave her a little smile. He placed his backpack against the wall and walked over to his baby brother. Mario looked shocked at the sight of Luigi. He couldn't believe how bad the condition of his younger brother was. He placed his hand on Luigi's cheek. The younger brother partially opened his eyes.

"Ehi fratellino, ti ho detto che stava tornando"; Mario greeted Luigi with a soothing voice.

Luigi gave his big brother a weak smile before he closed his eyes again. Mario looked at the others with a worried look on his face. He looked back at his baby brother.

Mario tried to call for his brother;"Luigi?"

There was no response, he tried again.

"Weege?"; he called loudly when he shaked his brother a little.

Again, there was no response. Suddenly the alarm of Luigi's heart monitor went off.

"No, no, we have the eye, so we can go get that antidote. Don't you dare die on me now bro"; Mario whimpered.

The medical staff stormed into Luigi's room. They begged Mario to stand aside and let them do there job, but he couldn't let his brother go. Bowser had to drag Mario all the way to the others as Mario tried to resist and cried;"Don't leave me alone!"

It took some time, but they were finally able to calm Mario down a bit. After what seemed like an eternity, Doctor Latoad finally came to the worrying group.

He nodded at mario and explained;"Don't worry you're brother is still alive, for now at least. The poison is starting to take it's toll on Luigi i'm afraid, i can't tell how long we could keep him alive. He really needs that antidote, the sooner, the better".

Mario looked at his friends and they all nodded. He walked over to his backpack against the wall and took The eye of despair. He gave Luigi a final glance before they all left for the field next to the castle, including Daisy and E. Gadd.  
Luigi was the only one left in the room, he was just in time conscious to hear his friends leave. His whole body was in pain, he was very weak and he could die at anny second, but by God he would rather die than let his friends face Dimentio without him. Luigi looked at the heart monitor and was able to turn it off. Now he could disconnect himself from the machine without letting the alarm go off. Next, he pulled the needle of the IV from his arm. His arm was bleeding a bit, but he didn't care. Luigi took off the nasal cannula and finally, he gathered all his strength and dragged himself out of bed, to the bathroom. The nurse had placed Luigi's clothing on a chair in the bathroom, it took al of his energie to get dressed again. He put the bathroom door ajar and when he saw he was still alone in the room, he walked slowly to the window. Luigi opened it and with a lot of effort he crawled through the window.

"Th...ank God, m-my room i...s on the ground f-floor"; he panted.

Luigi gave everything he had to get to his friends. When he caught up, he hid himself and kept following them. Around that time, a nurse came into Luigi's room to check on him. When she saw the bed was empty, she ran to Doctor Latoad and told him Luigi was gone.

Latoad started to yell;"Whaaaaaat, has he lost his mind? Like 10 minutes ago the guy was having a heart attack, he was literally dieing and now he ran away, God knows doing what?"

He dropped his papers from the shock.

"Mario's going to kill us if he finds out. Probably Luigi as well and if he won't, i will"; he continued.

He got somme of the medical staff togheter and announced;"Okay everyonne, Luigi has miraculously escaped the hospital. It's only been 13 minutes so he couldn't have gonne far. Go outside, split up and look for him. When you find him, you bring him to his room and you have my permission to strap him to the bed!"

The medical staff looked kinda perplexed at Doctor Latoad.

"What are you waiting for, an invitation? Go, Go, Go, Go!"; he yelled as everyone ran outside to look for Luigi.

*** **To Be Continued** ***

AU:

Ehi fratellino, ti ho detto che stava tornando./Hey little brother, I told you I was coming back.


	7. Introducing, the dark jester

Mario and friends arrived at the field where they would meet with Dimentio. Luigi who was still following them, was completely out of breath and could barely move. Yet he forced himself to go into the forrest that surounded the field. That way he could stay hidden. He knew if Mario would see him there, the older brother would make sure he got back to the hospital, even if Mario had to drag him there.

(meanwhile in the hospital)

"Doctor, it's been an hour since Luigi disappeared and we still haven't found him. No matter how weak he is, he shouldn't be in the neighborhood anymore"; one of the nurses informed.

Doctor Latoad Sighed and replied;"Okay, you can stop looking and continue you're work with the other patients. I on the other hand, am his doctor, it's my duty to find him and make sure he doesn't die".

The medical staff went back to work while Doctor Latoad thought about where Luigi could've gone.

suddenly he had an idea of where he could be as he whispered to himself;"No, that's crazy, he would die in his condition. He wouldn't do that ... Would he?"

He walked outside of the hospital as he yelled;"I think i know where Luigi is, i'm going to go get him!"

(Back with Mario's group)

Mario turned to his friends as he asked;"Shouldn't Dimentio be ..."

Before he could finish his question, he heard Dimentio from behind him taunt;"Well, well, well if it isn't my lap dog. Who's a good boy, you are. Now, give The eye of depair to the master".

Mario turned around again and looked at Dimentio with a confused but ennoyed expression on his face while he stated;"Excuse me? I'm not a dog and you're definitely not my master".

"Oh but you see, you are a dog. After all, i asked you to fetch me The eye of despair and you did, like the good lap dog you are"; Dimentio teased.

"Only because you poisoned my brother, you lousy excuse of a jester!"; Mario yelled with his teeth clenched on each other.

"Now that you mention it, how is that brother of yours doing?"; Dimentio asked.

Mario's hands became fists and he stared enraged at the jester.

"From the look on your face, i would say he's either dead, or he's about to die. Anyway, i'm pretty sure you wouldn't be here if he's dead already, so let's drop the insults and get to business, shall we? After all, we don't want your sweet baby brother to die"; Dimentio suggested with an evil grin on his face.

Mario took The eye of despair and showed it to Dimentio, he asked;"Do you even have the antidote?"

"My, my, someone has trust issues"; Dimentio teased as he showed a little bottle with a green fluid.

"How do i know if that's the antidote and not just some junk you're try to give me"; Mario asked.

"You don't, but it's the only thing i have that could save your brother. You don't need to give this bottle to you're brother if you don't want to, but in that case, he would die eather way. So, it's eather this bottle or a verry dead brother"; the jester replied.

Mario sighed as he announced;"Oké we're gonne do it like this, we slowly walk over to each other, we're going to exchange the antidote and the eye at the same time and finally we're going our seperate ways. Deal?"

The jester nodded with a grin. Mario and Dimentio slowly walked over to each other, until they were standing right in front of one another. The jester was holding The eye with his one hand and held the antidote in the other, yet Mario would only release The eye if he had the bottle in his grasp. Just as Mario lifted his arm to take the antidote, Dimentio used his knee to kick Mario in the stomach. Because of this, Mario fell on the ground and Dimentio had both The eye and the antidote in his hands.

"Mario!"; Peach yelled.

"You lying cheat"; Mario roared.

Dimentio ignored it as he put the antidote away and placed The eye of despair around his neck. The moment he had put in on, the medallion started to create a black sphere around Dimentio. The jester started to laugh maniacally. Everyonne backed away from the sphere. Then, there was a pulse of energie and the sphere faded away. When the group saw Dimentio, they noticed he had changed. He was still wearing his theatrical mask and the cap with purple and light-yellow stripes with the jingle bells but his clothing was different. He wore a white collar, a purple tailcoat with purple and yellow striped puff-shoulders and long white sleeves, Black gloves with jingle bells on the wristpart, white leggings and black Boots with a curled tip and a jingle bell on the tip of the curl. There was also a black aura enveloping him, he became Dark Dimentio.

Mario was enraged because he fell for Dimentio's simple trick, so without thinking, he charged at the dark jester. Bowser however, had seen that there were black crosses on the ground around Dark Dimentio.

"Mario wait it's a trap"; Bowser yelled.

It was too late however, mario had stepped on a black cross which exploded the moment he had touched it. Mario was thrown back by the impact, he had used his left arm to protect his head from the explosion flames, now he had a nasty flash burn on that arm. Dark Dimentio was laughing at his new found powers.

Mario grabbed his arm and got back to his feet, he looked at his friends and reassured;"I'm okay".

The dark jester pointed at mario's arm as he snickered;"That looks like it hurt, allow me to put some water onto it".

Before Mario could react a black bubble appeared around him, the bubble started to fill itself with water. Mario wasn't able to destroy the bubble and the water level was high enough to make it impossible to breathe. Bowser wanted to go help mario.

"Oh, how sweet, the turtle wants to play as well, but how can he save Mario if he can't even save himself"; the dark jester teased.

"Wait what"; Bowser asked confused as he saw Dark Dimentio pointing up.

Bowser looked up as two black rings fell down over his body, the rings shrank and strapped the koopa king's arms and legs together. No matter how hard Bowser tried, he couldn't free himself until Toad realised he still had a few of the power-ups of their adventure. Toad took a piece of meat out of his backpack and threw it to Bowser, who was able to catch the meat with his mouth and eat it. Bowser was now able to break the rings with his pure strength. He ran to Mario as fast as he could and used his claws to destroy that bubble. Mario sank to his knees as he was gasping for air, while the water flowed onto the ground.

"You okay?"; Bowser asked?

Mario nodded as he shakily tried to stand up again, still heavily breathing.

"He's to powerfull, i don't know if we could beat him as long if he has The eye of despair"; Mario panted.

Luigi who was still hiding behind the trees, wanted to help his brother. He knew what he needed to do. It could cost him his life but he was dying anyway. He used the trees as a shield to sneek behind Dark Dimentio. Now he just had to wait for the right time.

"Maybe we can try to attack at the same time"; Bowser suggested

"It's worth a shot"; Mario replied.

Dark Dimentio waved at Mario and bowser as he pestered;"Sorry to disturb your important meeting, but i have a few pointers for you. First of all, i'm still here i could have attacked you by now. Secondly, you might want to keep your battle strategy for yourself, i hear everything you say".

Mario and Bowser looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. They looked back at the dark jester and started to run towards him. to their great surprise, their feet were suddenly stuck to the ground. when they looked down, the two noticed they had stepped in a black puddle. It was another trap.

"D-did you just ignore what I said ?"; The dark jester asked shocked .

"No, but just standing there wouldn't help us either now would it"; Mario answered.

"Oh, because the situation you are in right now is way better? At, least you were able to walk away from my traps before, now you're just targets"; Dark Dimentio replied.  
"This is the last mistake you've made"; he continued as he created a big circular saw in his right hand with the black aura.

*** **To Be Continued** ***


	8. Brotherly love

Dark Dimentio threw the circular saw to Mario who was able to dodge it by ducking. The jester made a secondary circular saw and threw it at Bowser, who was also able to dodge it by leaning his body to the right.

"Well, looks like someone needs target practice"; Mario teased.

He had just finished his sentence when another circular saw was coming his way. Mario was just in time to lean backward as the saw was just above his face. It missed him by a hair.

"I'm working on it"; Dimentio laughed.

"Sheesh, some people just can't take a joke"; Mario replied with a grin.

"You know, if i were you Mario, i wouldn't be making jokes like that. After all, it's you're fault all of this is happening. It's because of you, that i needed to poison you're brother. He's suffering and if you weren't so gullible, you would at least have the antidote. You could've saved you're beloved baby brother. Now he's going to die. Luigi is probably really dissapointed in his big brother"; the dark jester claimed.

Everyone was staring at Mario. The red clad plumber was standing there, just staring at the ground, his expression emotionless.  
It was quiet for a moment. Suddenly Mario clenched his fists, his body trembled with rage. His fists ignited with fire and when he looked up at Dimentio, he had flames in his eyes.

"Don't you think i know that? I know, i f*cked up. Luigi deserves a better big brother, but i still love my baby brother, and if i could, i would gladly take his place. I promise you Dimentio, if i lose my brother because of you're poison, i will dedicate my life at hunting you down"; Mario replied.

Mario's entire body ignited with fire. Everyone was shocked, nobody had ever seen mario so furious. It was kinda scary.

"I will make you suffer just as much as Luigi was suffering these past three days and it will only stop until i am satisfied. Only then, i will kill you. I'll be you're personal Hell"; he continued.

When he was finally done, he started to calm down.

Mario looked at bowser and asked;" Can you help me?"

Bowser could only nod with his mouth wide open. Boy, was he glad mario never got that angry with him.

"Good, i need you to use you're firebreath as long as posible"; Mario explained.

Bowser used his firebreath, as Mario added his own fire to it, creating a giant fire tornado. Bowser and Mario hurled the tornado at Dark Dimentio. The jester got sucked into the tornado, everyone could hear him scream. They thought the battle was over but the tornado spattered apart, with Dark Dimentio uninjured.

"Just kidding"; the dark jester teased with a grin on his face.

Mario and Bowser were panthing, they had used al theire energy in that last attack. Dimentio's grin turned in a frown, he looked serious.

"I'm done playing games"; Dimentio threatened.

The jester created a ginormous wave of black dark aura. Luigi took the oportunity to sneek behind Dimentio, he stood just behind the jester. Luigi hadn't much time left, his body was in immense pain but he used the last of his energy to summon his electricity. It's now or never, Luigi thought.

"Anny last words?"; Dark Dimentio asked.

Before anyone could react, Doctor Latoad appeared.

"Is Luigi here?"; he asked loudly.

The doctor stopped running as he noticed that everyone was staring at him, even Dimentio.

"I'm coming at a bad time, don't i?";Latoad asked.

Instead of answering the doctor's question, Mario asked a question of his own;"What do you mean if Luigi is here, isn't he at the hospital?"

"Hehe ... a-about that, it might be possible ... he may have ran away"; Doctor Latoad replied.

" **What**?"; Mario yelled in disbelieve.

Dimentio interrupted and yelled;"Okay enough of this, evil jester over here, trying to destroy the world. You would think someone would try to stop me in stead of ignoring me all the time!"

Dimentio was about to trow the dark aura wave to everyone. Luigi used this moment and took action. He used the last bit of his electricity to electrocute Dimentio. While the jester had convulsions , Luigi riped the medallion off Dark Dimentio's neck.

Dimentio turned around as he yelled;" **No! What have you done?** "

He looked at Luigi and in his rage, he threw the dark aura wave at Luigi in stead of the others. Luigi was scared, he could only hold his arms up as some kind of shield as the wave hit him and threw him back.

" **Luigi!** "; Mario cried.

The wave disappeared and Luigi lay motionless on the ground with The eye of despair still in his hand. Dimentio was hyperventilating as he fell on his knees.

" **This can not be happening!** "; the jester roared.

A beam of black aura shot out of Dark Dimentio's body. The jester fel unconsious to the ground, he was back to normal. The black aura that had come out Dimentio's body, went back into the medallion in Luigi's hand. When all of the dark aura was back inside The eye, the medalion broke in two. Everybody could hear whispery voices in the wind, the whispery voices turned into a terrifying scream. the scream continued to reverberate until it became quiet again.

Toadette was the first to break the silence;"The f*ck just happened?"

Everyone ran to Luigi, with the exception of Mario. The red clad plumber ran to Dimentio and searched for the antidote. He found the bottle, luckily it was still intact. He ran to the others and gave the bottle to Doctor Latoad. The Doctor took a spare syringe out of his pocket and used it to inject the green fluid into Luigi. All the veins in Luigi's body turned black, he was covered in black veins from head to toe. The black veins turned blue and eventually, Luigi's body turned back to normal.

"Did it work?"; Mario asked.

Doctor Latoad tried to feel Luigi's heartbeat, but there was no pulse. He looked at Mario and slowly shook his head. Mario fell on his knees, he was too late, he couldn't save his beloved brother.

"No, no, tell me it isn't true, my brother isn't death"; Mario whimpered as he put his hand on Luigi's cheek.

Doctor Latoad had tears in his eyes, he didn't know what to say, he had failed as a doctor.

"I'm sorry ... So verry sorry"; he sobbed.

Peach, Bowser, Yoshi, Toad and Toadette were speechless and sad, but with Daisy and E. Gadd, the tears were flowing down their face, they had a special bond with Luigi.

"Weege, please don't leave me alone. You promised me we would always be together, we promised each other. Please, you're the only family i have left"; Mario cried as he placed his forehead on Luigi's forehead. A few of Mario's tears landed on Luigi's face.

(Flashback)

The six year old Mario bros had just attended their parents funeral. They were all alone, they had no family left. A young woman of the orphanage came to pick them up. She had long brown hair, brown eyes and was wearing a white blouse, a long brown pants and white sneakers. She had silver earrings and a little medallion in the shape of a heart.

"Hello i'm Elizabeth, you two must be Mario and Luigi. Am i correct?"; the woman introduced herself.

Mario nodded as Luigi was hiding behind him.

"Good, i'll be taking care of you and you're brother until we can find a new family for you both. I know it is hard, but we will make the best out of it"; She explained with a sad smile.

Elizabeth took the two brothers inside the orphanage and gave them a tour, after the tour she brought them to a bedroom. The bedroom had a bunk bed and all the brothers their stuff were neatly placed in boxes in the corner off the room.

She closed the door and sighed as she started to explain;"Boys there's something you should know, it's important. Whoever wants to addopt you boys, there will be no garantee they will adopt the both of you. I'm not gonna lie, most people only want one kid. What i'm trying to say is, there is a chance you will get seperated from each other. I'm sorry".

It was quiet for a moment. Elizabeth wanted to give the brothers some time alone together, so she silently left the room.

Mario went to sit on the lower bed. Luigi was about to climb to the upper bed when he saw something very rare, his big brother was crying. Luigi went to sit next to him.

"Bro, you okay?"; he asked.

Mario looked at Luigi, he answered with another question;"Am i going to lose you too?"

Luigi looked surprised and replied;"Off course not, if we can't find new parents that want the both of us, we will run away together.

"Promise me. Promise me that no matter what happens, we will stay together forever"; Mario demanded.

Luigi was sticking out his little finger and Mario did the same. They folded their little fingers together and they made an oath.

They said at the same time;"I hereby swear we will always be together, forever. siamo nati insieme e noi moriremo insieme".

Luigi thought about it and quickly asked;"But i can have my own wife and house, right?"

Mario started laughing, he snickered;"sure thing, as long as you live in the same village or city as me".

"Deal"; Luigi replied.

The brothers hugged each other.

(End of flashback)

Luigi opened his eyes in an instant as he gasped for air. Mario looked up, tears still running down his face.

"Luigi? You're alive!"; Mario yelled out of happiness.

Luigi weakly lifted up his hand and stuck out his little finger. Mario smiled as he did the same. They folded their little fingers together.

"You remember"; Mario whispered to his baby brother.

Luigi nodded, to weak to say anything. Everyone was happy. Daisy went to sit next to Mario and gave Luigi a kiss.

"You gave us all a good scare, my boy"; E. Gadd chuckled as he wiped away his tears.

"What about him?"; Bowser asked while he was pointing at the unconcious Dimentio.

Mario walked over to the jester. Just when he was about to pick him up, a bright light shone from Dimentio's body. The light faded away and the jester was gone.

"Can i finally take my patient back to the hospital? Maybe he isn't poisoned anymore, but he still needs to recover, and he still hasn't eaten in days"; Latoad informed with a smile.

Mario nodded.

Yoshi came over and asked;"Do i need to carry him there again?"

"That's really nice Yoshi, but if you wouldn't mind, i would like to carry him there myself"; Mario replied.

Yoshi nodded, he understood. Mario held Luigi in his arms. They brought Luigi back to his room in the hospital. After a week of recovering, Luigi was allowed to return home. Peach trew a party with, yes you guessed it, cake. Everyone had gather in the hall of Peach her castle. They all entered the dining room, except for Mario and Luigi.

"you guys coming?"; Peach asked.

"You go ahead princess, we need to do something first"; Mario replied.

The princess went into the dining room and closed the door. Luigi was kinda confused, he had no idea why Mario was keeping them in the hall. Mario looked at Luigi, he had tears in his eyes.

Mario started to talk;"I'm so sorry Luigi, you got poisoned and suffered because of me. I wish, i was a better big brother. You could have died because of me. Please forgive me".

Mario expected that Luigi would yell at him, but instead Luigi hugged him.

"Don't you dare to apologize to me, you've done nothing wrong. Dimentio would have poisoned me anyway"; Luigi replied.

Now, Mario was confused.

"While i was in the hospital, toad told me about the adventure he had with you and Bowser. Can you remember how you got inside the temple?"; Luigi asked

"Yeah, i had to say i wanted to save you're life"; mario answered.

Mario just realised something. It was Dimentio's plan all along to poison Luigi, otherwise Mario wouldn't have anny good intentions for entering the temple.

"Like i said, Dimentio is the one at fault here. You were there to comfort me when i was in pain, and when you went away you asked Daisy to stay by my side, so that i wouldn't be alone. You are the best big brother anyone could ever wish for and i love you, so don't you dare to apologize to me"; Luigi explained with tears in his eyes.

Mario was shocked by Luigi's words.

He looked at Luigi and replied;"And you're the best little brother anyone could ever wish for. I love you too. But i'm begging you, don't do this to me ever again. I've never cried as much in my life than the last few days. They would start thinking that I'm a crybaby".

"Then we would have two crybaby's"; Luigi joked.

Mario and Luigi hugged each other again.

"Let's go get some of that cake"; Mario proposed as they walked in the dining room with the others.

*** **The End** ***

AU:  
siamo nati insieme e noi moriremo insieme/we were born together and we will die together

(but, wait a minute)

Luigi came back out of the dining room. He walked to the middle of the hall and looked up.

" E-excuse me. Yeah you, the person reading this story. I'm sorry to break the 4th wall on you, but MsFantasy wanted me to read this letter to the readers. So, here i go". Luigi announced.

He took a letter out of his pocket and began to read out loud.

 _Hey there,_

first of all, i would like to dedicate this story to WayWardWonderer. It's because of her, i started to write this story. She kept motivating me and i like to thank her for that. She's my biggest inspiration.  
Secondly, i would like to thank the people who read the entire story. I've put a lot of work and time into it,so it means a lot to me. Seriously, thank you. I hope you enjoyed it.

With best regards,

MsFantasy

"That's all, i'll better go back to Mario, before he eats all the cake. Bye Bye"; Luigi joked.

He winked and went back into the dining room.


End file.
